More particularly, the invention relates to a storage compartment for a vehicle, comprising:                a receptacle having an interior volume, a bottom, and an opening situated opposite the bottom;        at least one partition member slidably movable in a sliding direction and adapted to partition the interior volume of the receptacle; and        a locking device for locking the partition member relative to the receptacle in the sliding direction, said locking device comprising a first locking member provided on one among the receptacle and partition member and adapted to engage with a complementary second locking member provided on the other among the receptacle and partition member.        
Document US20070024075 describes an example of such a storage compartment located in a central console of the vehicle and in which a movable partition member is arranged to slide inside a receptacle and can be locked in the sliding direction in three specific positions relative to said receptacle, namely a position in which it substantially clears the entire opening of the receptacle, a position in which it partitions the opening into two substantially equal halves, and an intermediate position.
In that document, the partition member is guided as it slides by two guide grooves provided on the side walls of the receptacle and each having three positioning notches adapted to engage with projecting studs provided on the partition member to lock it in the sliding direction.
To change the partition member from one position to another, an occupant of the vehicle has to pull or push on the partition member along the sliding direction to cause an elastic deformation of the studs so that they exit the positioning notches. The partition member is freed by exerting a pulling or pushing force along the sliding direction on the partition member, this force causing the elastic deformation of at least one of the complementary locking members provided on the grooves and partition member.
Such a system is not without its drawbacks.
In particular, the force to be exerted on the partition member to release it from one of the locked positions must be great enough to cause elastic deformation of the locking studs provided on the partition member, which impacts the ease of use and the ergonomics of the storage compartment equipped with the partition member.
Moreover, with such a system, the repeated displacement of the partition member between the different partitioning configurations of the interior volume of the receptacle can dull the complementary locking members provided on the grooves and partition member, resulting in gaps between these elements. Such gaps result in unstable and loose retention of the partition member in its partitioning configurations, which affects the perceived quality of the system and in particular can cause vibrational noises that are annoying to occupants of the vehicle.
The present invention is intended to overcome these disadvantages.